Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

[ratchy99]

Our experience at RCR notwithstanding, [http://micechat.com/forums/cars-land-buena-vista-street-forums/169617-radiator-springs-racers-breaking-down-too-often-8.html#post1056810573], I was quite surprised to find that many of the previously premiere attractions at DCA all had very short wait times.

We were there on Sunday, July 22 and Sunday's in July are historically a busy, busy day. We saw the following wait times:

[NOTE: These wait times were based on personal experience and could very well have been statistical anomaly]:

• Soarin' Over California: 25 minutes (5:30 PM) - at similar dates/times in the past, I have seen this take anywhere from 40 - 90 minutes.
• Tower of Terror: 20 minutes (7:00 PM) - at similar dates/times in the past, I have seen this take anywhere from 90 - 120 minutes.
• California Screaming: 10 minutes (6:15 PM) - - at similar dates/times in the past, I have seen this take anywhere from 30 - 60 minutes.

My first thought was that maybe the opening of Cars Land had taken the pressure of off these once premiere, but now aging rides that have carried the park for the last few years. However, I wonder if it is because of lower than expected attendance at Disneyland Resorts overall?

I do not know if the attendance is lower than expected, but I do know that originally AP and Employee passholders were blacked out until the middle of August, but that blackout was recently lifted.

Thoughts, theories...?

[OP NOTE: I have always loved DCA and still do. This is not a bash or an attempt to denigrate the park. Simply, I just noticed shorter lines than in the past and thought it odd. Also I should clarify I was wondering if attendance was down over the entire Resort, not just DCA.]

[planodisney]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

DCA is getting attendance numbers it has never recieved before. So, it definitely isnt due to low attendance.

[Quentin]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

I am wondering where you are getting 90-120 min. for Tower of Terror. DCA's attendance is up, well that is what I have been told. So it is probably Cars Land. as RSR is seeing 2 hour plus waits.

[frollofan]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

maybe its because its dinner time and/or people are heading into Disneyland to go on a few rides then prepare for fireworks and Fantasmic

[ratchy99]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

I am wondering where you are getting 90-120 min. for Tower of Terror.

This was a personal experience - and it is entirely possible that it was a statistical anomaly; but the time we went, the line wrapped around the entire queue area outside, then the entire queue area inside, then after the library room Rod Serling Twilight Zone presentation, the line filled the entire steam room area before you get to go to the elevator.

[Mr Wiggins]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

...I do not know if the attendance is lower than expected, but I do know that originally AP and Employee passholders were blacked out until the middle of August, but that blackout was recently lifted.

Thoughts, theories...?

Others are reporting similar experiences...

...We have also seen the empty stores on Buena vista street. The lack of a line for the ice cream parlour. I went into cars land a couple weeks ago to grab dinner at flo's and the place was a ghost town.

And now we find out that they are allowing their employees to bring people into the park for free. No matter where the attendance is, you don't bring more people in for free unless you need them to spend money on food and merchandise.

Something is definately up with attendance and revenue at Disneyland. And usually when you smell smoke, there's fire.

[Indiana_James]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

GRR wait times seem longer to me this year, but I think what you posted is true in general

[sheetz]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

Another thing that affects wait times is DCA's much longer operating hours this year. Last year DCA was open 10am-10pm but this year it's 8am-11pm (7am-11pm including EE). That's a 25% increase in park capacity which helps spread the crowds out over the course of the day.

[micky90]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

Hmmm I went 4 days ago, and GRR area seemed crowded like crazy, of course it was hot so there would be a lot of people there but it was a 90 min wait at around 3pm. Soarin looked packed as usual, 30 min. Paradise Pier's TSMM always seemed to be crowded a long with carsland, but elsewhere not too bad

[JerrodDRagon]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

ToT...for the most part I see has been 40 mins this summer...mainly because one of the 3 towers is down

Grizzley and Matterhorn for some reason have been up this year....but yeah in general Carsland seems to be eating up many of the people in DCA

and believe it or not I have seen many of the shows on Buena Vistas Street get big crowds....also the Mad T party eats up a lot of people too

But yeah DCA is getting more people on average then Disneyland...according to Al

[Ryan120420]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

ToT...for the most part I see has been 40 mins this summer...mainly because one of the 3 towers is down

Grizzley and Matterhorn for some reason have been up this year....but yeah in general Carsland seems to be eating up many of the people in DCA

and believe it or not I have seen many of the shows on Buena Vistas Street get big crowds....also the Mad T party eats up a lot of people too

But yeah DCA is getting more people on average then Disneyland...according to Al

All three towers and all 6 load/unload stations were open on Tower of Terror yesterday.

[eicarr]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

Went to DCA 2 weeks ago and the long lines sure did keep me away from midway mania. The park walkways were packed. Not a big fan of those 3 rides and didn't even check the lines aside from seeing a 40 min wait for soaring over california which I skipped.

Glad for high capacity rides like mermaid and junkyard jamboree giving me a great go-to when park lines get long. Ride lines might be shorter too due to people like me standing in line for those cone soda cups and radiator springs CDs. I'll plan to spend 2x as much time as I used to on my next trip to DCA so I'll spend more time in lines for more rides I guess.

[MrLiver]

But yeah DCA is getting more people on average then Disneyland...according to Al

Yeah but that doesn't mean they are staying. I just checked mousewait and tot is 20 minutes and soarin is 5.

It could be that people are going in, getting their fast passes for rsr and woc and then heading out for the day, leaving the rest of the park empty .

That would actually explain the bizzarro "surprise" fast passes being given out.

[Quarar44]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

My theory is that most ordinary people only care for Cars Land and not much more of the rest of the park. I mean I know that growing up our "day at Disneyland" would start after lunch and end at about 5. I don't an ordinary local family that doesn't know anything about Disneyland would get there when the park opens, so let's say they got there around 10. They get in the park at 10:30 and go to RSR which has a 2 hour wait. By the time they get off they need to go to the bathroom, and when they're done it's already 12:45. They head over to Flo's for lunch, and with a family of four lunch takes about 25 minutes. At 1:10 they go to Luigi's which shows a 75 minute wait, so when they're done with that it's 2:25. Mater's will take them about 20 minutes, so by the time they finish everything in Cars Land it's already 2:45. They make it over to TSM which takes them about an hour (time: 3:45) to do. Then they spend 30 mins at the Challenge Trail (4:15) before Little Sarah wants to go on the Little Mermaid (4: 30). They then get a spot on the parade corridor, and by 5:30 the family is all tired out and ready to go. Because I'm assuming a large majority of the Cars Land crowd is like the family I described, it's no surprise that the other rides are being skipped.

[planodisney]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

Ordinary families that go to WDW defintely care for rides like Soarin, Toy Story Mania, ToT, ITTBAB and broadway caliber shows like Alladin. What is so different about people who go to DLR?

[JerrodDRagon]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

^Disneyland has many locals...besides Ap's some people migth even come twice/three times a year with just a ticket

So they might skip rides to go on other rides they like more

[frollofan]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

I went yesterday and RSR had a 120 min. wait, which was different to me because I usually see a 180 minute wait. The Little Mermaid was a walk-on and Mickey's Fun Wheel Swinging was 45 minutes long.

[Aaebert67]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

My husband and I are planning on coming down from Aug. 17-20, and we haven't seen the new DCA yet. Any recommendations for beating the crowds at DCA? Is it slow in the morning then slow again at night, or is it just crowded all day? Normally, we start out in D-land when it opens and then go to DCA in the afternoon, but this was before Carsland, etc. opened...

[frollofan]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

My husband and I are planning on coming down from Aug. 17-20, and we haven't seen the new DCA yet. Any recommendations for beating the crowds at DCA? Is it slow in the morning then slow again at night, or is it just crowded all day? Normally, we start out in D-land when it opens and then go to DCA in the afternoon, but this was before Carsland, etc. opened...

Get there before rope drop and wait in the line to get a fastpass for RSR as they do run out quickly. Afterwords, you should hit Luigi's Flying Tires if you're interested because it has long and slow waits later on. Next, I would go to Toy Story Mania because that line can get long and slow as well, and it doesn't offer fastpass. After that, the rest of the rides at DCA should not have long waits for the first few hours of park opening.

[chesirecat]

Re: Short wait times at rest of DCA due to Cars Land or low attendance?

Though DCA technically has high attendance, it is primarily because the park that is entered first gets the credit for the admission. Guests might spend three hours in Carsland first thing in the a.m. then spend the rest of the day in Disneyland and the sharp pencil boys count it as attendance at DCA, not Disneyland.

Sure, they could tell the truth and say how much time the average guest spends in each park, but I think it is a marketing gimmick in a way as it makes DCA look uber popular when they leak these attendance numbers.

---------- Post added 07-30-2012 at 11:42 PM ----------

I went yesterday and RSR had a 120 min. wait, which was different to me because I usually see a 180 minute wait. The Little Mermaid was a walk-on and Mickey's Fun Wheel Swinging was 45 minutes long.

I think that guests love the atmosphere of Carsland, it is very immersive, and that going to the rest of DCA would sort of bring their spirits down. Its like being in a theme park that is half Disneyland and half Coney Island. After you've seen Carsland, it makes sense to go to Disneyland to experience the rest of the "lands" the resort has to offer.

I don't consider Paradise Pier a real land as you can see the outside work, they didn't go full tilt with fixing the queue for the Ferris Wheel, and Mermaid just doesn't make sense around a run-down pier side amusement park recreation. Hollywood land is an after-thought, IMHO, a cheap replica of certain areas of DHS, and not on par with other lands in Disneyland. I still like seeing Muppets, but you don't feel like you're anywhere special.

I don't really like GRR as it has no characters, no animals . . . just a silent river ride second to the one in Knotts, and with the windows of Grand Californian all over this area of DCA, I feel like I'm intruding on somebody's privacy. Soarin', I would see it if the wait was short.

I hope Burbank realizes that plopping down a $100 million (or maybe it was just $70 million) ride in a crappy area of a park (Mermaid) doesn't do much to make this area of the park popular. Mermaid's final scenes are an afterthought and very incomplete.

Walt knew that he wanted his parks to look nice and clean, like Tivoli Gardens in Europe, not like run-down pier side amusement parks, so that guests can relax and have fun. I have to say that I hate Paradise Pier and even on a subconscious level hate walking around this area of DCA. Can't say the same thing about any other Disney park I've visited.